Vallejo police hiring to catch up with impending retirements

With upcoming retirements, the Vallejo Police Department might reach its lowest number of officers since the mid-1970s.

However, police officials are assuring the public that the hiring process for new officers is under way.

The police department has funding for 93 sworn officers. Five more will be financed by Measure B, a 1 percent sales tax that Vallejo voters passed in 2011.

With recent attrition, the force now has 87 sworn officers, said Lt. Lee Horton, head of the Vallejo Police Bureau of Professional Standards.

By April, the department is expecting three former Vallejo police cadets to join the ranks, with one scheduled to begin work as soon as Monday.

The three new officers will raise the number to 90. However, the department is expecting at least six retirements by May, Horton said.

That will reduce the force to 84 officers, the lowest since 1973 when it stood at 85, a veteran officer said. At the time, Vallejo's population also was about 40,000 fewer than today.

At its peak, the department had 143 sworn officers in 2008, shortly before the city entered Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

"This is new territory," Horton said, "But we'll do our best, and we'll continue to work as best as we can to provide service to our community."

Horton said he hopes to fill all positions in the next six months, contingent on any more retirements.

A few residents have voiced concerns that the department is not attracting any candidates.

Horton disputed that, saying that since the application period opened at the end of last year, the department has received 162 entry-level, and 26 candidate applications with at least one year of experience. Eleven of the entry-level candidates, chosen based on their qualifications, were interviewed Monday, he said.

He added that he expects more applicants by early February.

"We are getting a lot of candidates," Horton said. "It's just a tedious process."

Horton said each qualified candidate goes through a four- to five-month process. It includes a polygraph test, a background check, psychological test, and a medical examination. The battery of tests costs the department about $3,000 per candidate.

Once a person passes, the hired officer then will spend about two weeks observing on the job, followed by about five months working with training officers. The officer is then on probation for up to 18 months.

Horton said even then new hires don't always make it through the training program.

"Some people are just not cut out for this kind of work," he said.

Such uncertainty makes it that much more challenging for the already short-staffed department, he said.

"It is difficult, because we want to make sure we get the best possible people as soon as we can," Horton said. "But when we get the right people, it's very rewarding."

There also have been instances when the hired candidate changes his or her mind at the last minute, which could set back the process, he said.

Financial and staffing constraints prevent the department from hiring a lot of people at once, Horton said.

"We don't have the financial means, and we don't want to overwhelm the training officers," he said. "We have to go through the methodical process that we're set up to do, and try to keep up the best we can."